“People of African descent”: the emergence of a new global category in international politics

This article examines the emergence, institutionalization, and legal anchoring, since 2000, of “People of African Descent” (PoAD) as a new category of persons in international politics. Focusing on the United Nations this qualitative documentary analysis shows how PoAD bridged a critical gap: the UN's lack of a globally uniform group of victims of racism. The category emerged from an interplay between international organizations (top-down) and Latin American civil society mobilization (bottom-up). Combining world polity research and the sociology of knowledge, the article makes a threefold contribution: first, it provides a pioneering sociological analysis that conceptualizes PoAD as a social construct rather than an empirical group; second, it expands existing research on categories by addressing the question of the geographical scope of category distinctions; and third, it introduces the concept of norm embodiment, arguing that global categories do not merely receive rights but embody and operationalize abstract human rights norms such as anti-racism and the right to cultural diversity.